Makini Beck Headshot

Makini Beck

Assistant Professor

Individualized Education, School of Individualized Study
Academic Affairs
mzbind@rit.edu
585-475-5402
Office Location
EAS-2233

Makini Beck

Assistant Professor

Individualized Education, School of Individualized Study
Academic Affairs

Education

BA, State University College at Old Westbury; MSED, St. Bonaventure University; Ph.D., University of Rochester

Bio

Education:

B.A., American Studies, SUNY College at Old Westbury
M.S.Ed, Social Studies, St. Bonaventure University
Ph.D., Teaching & Curriculum, University of Rochester

Teaching interests:

Social and Cultural Foundations of Education; Research Methods; Urban Poverty; Foundations of Sociology; Hip Hop Music and Culture; Minority Relations

Research Interests:

Dr. Makini Beck focuses her academic inquiry on immigrant women teachers in the U.S., mentoring women of color in academia, narrative inquiry and autoethnographic research methods.  She has presented her research at various national and international conferences, and has published her work in handbook chapters and peer-reviewed journals.  

Selected Publications  

Beck, M., Unterreiner, A., De Four-Babb, J. (2017).  Keeping our boots on the ground: Independent scholars maintaining academic identities.  A Professing Education: A Journal of The Society of Professors of Education, 16(2), 67-84. 

Nganga, C., Beck, M. (2017).  The power of dialogue and meaningful connectedness: Conversations between two female scholars. The Urban Review, 49, 551-567. 

Beck, M., & Nganga, C. (2016). Narratives of foreign-born teachers: Implications for dialogic leadership for social justice. Educational Leadership Review 16(3), 58-71. 

De Four-Babb, J., Pegg, J., & Beck, M. (2015).  Reducing intellectual poverty of outsiders within academic spaces through informal peer mentorship. Mentoring and Tutoring Journal, 23(1), 76-93. 

Esnard, T., Cobb-Roberts, D., Agosto, V., Karanxha, Z., Beck, M., Wu, K., & Unterreiner, A. (2015). Productive tensions in a cross-cultural peer mentoring women’s network: A social capital perspective. Mentoring and Tutoring Journal, 23(1), 19-36.   

Book Chapters 

Thorsos, N., Johnannessen, G., Beck, M., Nganga, C., (2016).  Synergy, care, and constructive chaos: Understanding the dynamics of an international co-mentoring network. In G. Guzman-Johnannessen (Ed.), Mentoring outside politics, policies, and practices in institutions of higher education. p.57-71. New York, NY: Springer.   

 

Encyclopedia Entries:

Beck, M. (2017). Infertility. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Psychology and Gender. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

mzbind@rit.edu
585-475-5402

Select Scholarship

Journal Paper
Beck, Makini, et al. "Critical Feminist Analysis of STEM Mentoring Programs: A Meta-Synthesis of the Existing Literature." Gender, Work & Organization 29. 1 (2022): 167-187. Print.
Beck, Makini, et al. "Mentoring From Within: Developing a Virtual Mentoring Curriculum for a Network of Culturally Diverse Women Faculty." Journal of Faculty Development 36. 1 (2022): 71-81. Print.
Nganga, Christine W., Makini Beck, and Joyanne De Four-Babb. "Making sense of spirituality in our academic lives through co-menetoring." Journal for the Study of Spirituality 11. 1 (2021): 61-74. Print.

Currently Teaching

ANTH-501
Senior Research Project
3 Credits
Students will write a library-based research paper or research proposal, bringing to bear the knowledge, methodological skills, and theoretical perspectives accumulated during the prior years of study.
SOCI-102
Foundations of Sociology
3 Credits
Sociology is the study of the social world and socialization processes. Sociologists study the broader picture of how societies are structured and organized through a macro-sociological analysis as well as how individuals create their own social reality symbolically through their interactions with others in a micro-sociological analysis. Students in this course will learn the fundamentals of each approach and come away with a sociological framework which they can critically apply to their own lives.
SOCI-210
Black America-Culture & HipHop
3 Credits
This course examines the historical and contemporary conditions of Blacks in the U.S. We will explore African American culture as it is perceived by many African-Americans, and consider theoretical concepts related to immigration and the segmented assimilation of Black immigrant groups coming into the U.S. We will also address identity politics as it relates to race, class, and gender, oppression, as well as the art products that originate in Black communities. A particular emphasis will be placed on Hip Hop music, dance, and style as an expression of Black culture, identity, activism, and social influence (both nationally and globally).
SOCI-330
Urban (In)Justice
3 Credits
With a focus on forms of (in)justice in urban communities worldwide, we investigate the impact of race, class, and gender and related systems of unequal power relations on perpetuating patterns of social, political, economic, and environmental oppression (policing, hunger, pollution, violence, disease). How do ways of governing urban populations affect the lives of inner city residents and their demands for justice when attempting to navigate the everyday urban worlds? Specific course topics include both historical and contemporary perspectives on urban (in)justice locally, in Rochester NY, and nationally, across the U.S., and in a global comparative framework. Thereby the effects of crime, violence, and inequality on people in urban neighborhoods are also examined among and within nations. By the end of the semester, students should be able to identify and explain various theories that seek to explain (in)justice patterns in the urban context at local, national and global levels.
SOCI-345
Urban Poverty
3 Credits
Urban poverty has been recognized as a persistent problem in the United States since the middle of the last century. In many cities, poverty is associated with high levels of teenage pregnancy, low levels of employment, limited educational attainment, chronic community-based health problems, and high levels of crime. This course examines causes, consequences, and proposed policy solutions to urban poverty. Special emphasis will be paid to U.S. urban poverty.
SOCI-501
Senior Research Project
3 Credits
Students will write a library-based research paper or research proposal, bringing to bear the knowledge, methodological skills, and theoretical perspectives accumulated during the prior years of study.

In the News

  • December 8, 2023

    side by side portraits of college professors Betsy Dell and Makini Beck.

    RIT leading STEM co-mentoring network

    Betsy Dell, professor in the College of Engineering Technology, and Makini Beck, assistant professor in the College of Liberal Arts and the School of Individualized Study, are leading a National Science Foundation-funded project to support minoritized women students in STEM through a co-mentoring network.

  • April 26, 2022

    three students posing for a photo.

    First graduates from RIT’s partner charter school poised to receive their RIT degrees

    A trio of trailblazing students who came to RIT from the university’s partner charter school will fulfill a long-term promise when they receive their college degrees at commencement this May. Zaid Abdulsalam, Ismael Cortes Jr., and Justice Marbury were among the first students to enroll at Rochester Prep High School, and they were the three students from the first graduating class in 2018 who chose RIT as their destination.

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